#226 Yoel Del Sol- Percussionist for Yanni, Educator & More!
This episode is sponsored by Eucatape.
Yoel Del Sol graduated from The National School of Music in Havana, Cuba. There had the opportunity to study under some of the world's most renowned Percussion educators, such as Jose Luis Quintana (Changuito), Reynaldo Fernandez, Roberto Vizcaino, Roberto Concepcion, among others.
From 1993 until 1995 he had the oppurtunity to teach percussion at The National School of Music where he studied. In 1995, Yoel won 1st Place at the PERCUBA Percussion Competition. This is one of the most prestigus awards in Cuba.
In 1999, Yoel relocated to Miami, Florida for more opportuntities to preform and record. He has performed with top artists including: Celia Cruz, Cachao, Raul DiBlasio, LENA, Malena Burke, Afro-Cuban Jazz Group ORIENTE, Luis Bofill, Roselyn Sanchez, Alicia Machado, Luis Enrique, Palo, Spam All Stars, Rebeca Mauleon, Arturo Sandoval & many more. In addition, Yoel has performed at Jazz Festivals in Cuba & around the globe with the group Havana-Sax (saxophone quartet & percussion) also with Chucho Valdez, Carlos del Puerto, Miguel Anga Diaz, Enrique Pla , Frank Emilio.... among others. He has also recorded with very important names in the Latin Pop Industry : Alexander Pires, Raul DiBlasio, Garage H , Eddy Thomas, Dj LAZ , Jose Luis Rodriguez ”El Puma” & his work can be found on the soundtrack album of the independent film LA MALA" ( Spain/Puerto Rico production.)
Oscars 2021
Here is the Full list of winners and nominees.
R.I.P.
American recording engineer Al Schmitt, has died at the age of 91. During an astonishingly long career, Schmitt has won 23 Grammy Awards, making him the most successful engineer/mixer in Grammy history. During his career, Al has recorded and mixed more than 150 gold and platinum albums and was inducted into the TEC Awards Hall of Fame in 1997. He received the Grammy Trustees Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. Schmitt’s credits range back to the 1950s, when he worked with Leonard Feather, Marty Paich, and Henry Mancini. His credit list at Allmusic contains over 1100 entries, including the likes of Earth, Wind & Fire, Barbra Streisand, Neil Young, Diana Ross, Robbie Williams, Toni Braxton, Michael Bublé, Elvis Costello, Liza Minelli, Brian Wilson, Norah Jones, Bob Dylan, Steely Dan, George Benson, Quincy Jones and Toto, and Paul McCartney to name only a few.
Throughout his spanning career, one of Schmitt’s notable strengths has been his ability to adapt his grounding in the early analogue recording and production techniques of the 1950s and 1960s, and improve these techniques as new studio technologies became available. Schmitt’s roots and engineering genius show in his famous clean, and unadorned sound, which allows the natural qualities of the instruments and the arrangements to speak for themselves.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to Adam Deitch. Adam is an American record producer and drummer based in Denver, Colorado. He is the drummer for the bands Lettuce and Break Science and has worked in the hip hop, funk, electro, pop, and jazz genres, and has collaborated with rapper Wax and soul/jazz singer Ledisi.
Happy Birthday to Jim Keltner. Jim is best known for his session work on solo recordings by three of The Beatles, working often with George Harrison, John Lennon (including Lennon solo albums, as well as albums released both by the Plastic Ono Band and Yoko Ono), and Ringo Starr. He and Starr were the drummers on the Concert for Bangladesh, rock music's first charity benefit, initiated by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar, in August 1971 at Madison Square Garden in New York; he also performed at the Garden in 1972 for John Lennon's "One To One" benefit for the Willowbrook State School.
In addition to his work with three of the Beatles, Keltner, as a free-lance drummer, has also worked with Leon Russell, Gabor Szabo, Delaney Bramlett, Roy Orbison, Harry Nilsson, Jerry Garcia, Eric Clapton, Steely Dan, Joe Cocker, Van Dyke Parks, the Rolling Stones, Ronnie Wood, Bill Wyman, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Brian Wilson, Seals and Crofts, The Ramones, Bill Frisell, Neil Young, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Phil Keaggy, Steve Jones, Crowded House, Fiona Apple, Elvis Costello, The Bee Gees, Jackson Browne, The Manhattan Transfer, Randy Newman, Ry Cooder, Sam Phillips, Los Lobos, Pink Floyd, Warren Zevon, Rufus Wainwright, Tom Petty, Gillian Welch, the Steve Miller Band, Alice Cooper, Sheryl Crow and Lucinda Williams among many others.
Happy Birthday to the late, great Ernesto Antonio “Tito” Puente. Tito was a Puerto Rican musician, songwriter, record producer and bandleader. The son of Ernest and Felicia Puente, native Puerto Ricans living in New York City's Spanish Harlem, Puente is often credited as "The Musical Pope", "El Rey de los Timbales" (The King of the Timbales) and "The King of Latin Music". He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz compositions that endured over a 50-year career. He and his music appear in many films such as The Mambo Kings and Fernando Trueba's Calle 54. He guest-starred on several television shows, including Sesame Street and The Simpsons two-part episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns?". His most famous song is "Oye Como Va".
Gig Alerts
Ahead of crowd-based entertainment’s fast-approaching return, Live Nation has officially launched the “Green Nation Touring Program,” which will aim “to help artists adopt and scale sustainable touring practices that prioritize people and planet.”
The Beverly Hills-based concert promoter just recently unveiled the “Green Nation Touring Program” in a formal release. According to this announcement message, the sustainability-centered initiative will “focus on driving impact across all areas of the tour,” from “green venue selection” to evaluating transportation options.
Additionally, the Green Nation Touring Program is set to “maximize efficient routing,” measure and optimize stage designs and power requirements, and prioritize “conscious and equitable sourcing options across merch, catering and other vendor supplies.” -Article
Damon also mentions the Global Citizen Festival, and the Organization and movement that is behind the festival.
Educational Spotlight
PAS is proud to announce our Hall of Fame Class of 2021: James Campbell, Valerie Naranjo, Layne Redmond, and Garwood Whaley.
Product Review
There are three new cymbals from Zildjian’s Concept Shop.
A perfect companion for your ride cymbal, the Blast Bell is built to cut through the mix in a musical way.
Delivering a tight, electronic-inspired handclap sound, the Trap Stack is perfect for fattening up your backbeat. Meet your new go-to ride cymbal. The Staccato Ride has the definition of a flat ride, with an explosive crash that never overpowers.
Iconic Recording
The iconic recording this week is “New Arrival” by Tito Puente and the Golden Men of Latin Jazz.
The version of this song is from the 2000 documentary, Calle 54.
In this video, performing are:
Tito Puente: Timbales/Vibraphone
Giovanni Hidalgo: Congas
Hilton Ruiz: Piano
Joe Santiago: Bass
Mario Rivera: Sax/Percussion
Dave Valentin: Flute
Music News
Spotify says this new experience is ‘driven by social discovery,’ to allow listeners to enjoy Spotify within Facebook. Spotify Premium users can discover and experience songs from within the Facebook app on iOS and Android. Free users can enjoy the experience with shuffle mode only, featuring ads from Spotify.
The new feature will also give artists the ability to promote their new content directly on Facebook. The miniplayer can pop up on verified artists’ posts, or even in user-uploaded videos on Facebook that contain licensed music. Spotify bills it as a tool for gaining massive reach on Facebook. -Article
The British music industry has expressed clear-cut support for COVID-19 vaccine passports – albeit with a few caveats. UK Music backed the idea of COVID-19 vaccine passports (as well as other “status certification measures”) in an open letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, leader of the opposition Keir Starmer, and several additional MPs. For reference, the 13-year-old organization in January stated that “the combination of vaccines and rapid testing gives hope that we will be in a position to hold large-scale events by the middle of this year.” -Article
High-profile artists including Paul McCartney, Led Zeppelin, The Who’s Roger Daltrey, and Coldplay’s Chris Martin have called on the UK government to implement far-reaching reforms in the music-streaming space. The formal demand for streaming reform arrived in the form of an open letter (spearheaded by the Musicians’ Union and the Broken Record campaign) as well as a petition, both of which were addressed to Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Approximately 150 artists signed off on the letter, including Paul McCartney (who criticized streaming compensation rates last month) and the other above-mentioned backers, besides Tim Burgess, Peter Gabriel, Stevie Nicks, Brian Eno, and Nadine Shah, to name some. -Article
The last (for now) Bandcamp Friday is May the 7th. Damon has an album up there, but so do tons of other musicians. If you’ve started to feel guilty about buying music on any day other than Bandcamp Friday, here’s something to keep in mind: on Bandcamp Fridays, an average of 93% of your money reaches the artist/label (after payment processor fees). When you make a purchase on any other day of the month (as 2.5 million of you have since March, buying an additional $152 million worth of music and merch) an average of 82% reaches the artist/label. Every day is a good day to directly support artists on Bandcamp!
Yoel Del Sol Interview
The song leading into the interview is from a percussion demo that Yoel did in his home studio.
Damon and Yoel talk about meeting 14 years ago through Marvin Diz at the Guantanamera Restaurant in NYC.
Yoel talks about the video he shot with Marvin.
During this time of Covid, Yoel has been teaching lessons and fixing up his house.
Yoel talks about his family. His father is a mechanic and his mother is a nurse. He got into music from his brother, Raul Del Sol.
Yoel talks about the audition and education process for the Cuban school system. Yoel and his brother attended the National School of the Arts.
Yoel won 1st Place at the PERCUBA Percussion Competition. This may have transitioned into the Fiesta del Tambor. Yoel talks about the process of participating in the competition. He also mentions the video by Changuito called “The History of Songo”.
Yoel talks about some of the challenges of being a musician in Cuba. Yoel made his way to France, traveling with the Sax quartet, “Havana Sax”, before coming to Miami.
Yoel talks about one of the drummers who helped him get acclimated in France. His name is Mokhtar Samba. Mokhtar is an explosive and intellegent drummer who has recorded and toured with world music superstars, Salief Keita, Youssou N'Dour, Henri Dikongue, Carlinhos Brown, Richard Bona, Tama, Ultramarine, Joe Zawinul, Graham Haynes, Nguyen Le, and Jean-Luc Ponty.
Yoel’s favorite Cuban sandwich is from La Perla Del Sur on Calle Ocho. Yoel also had a great meal at La Barra Payán in Santo Domingo, D.R.
Yoel was touring with Yanni before the pandemic halted things. Yoel mentions the famous Yanni at the Acropolis concert from 1994. That concert had (friend of the show) Daniel de los Reyes.
Yoel tells the story about how he got the gig with Yanni.
Yoel talks about backline and travel with such a huge ensemble.
Yoel and Damon talk about how Important the sound engineers and lighting designer are to the show.
Yoel has a new album derived from playing for dancers, dance classes and more. The whole project will be a total of three volumes. He has the first volume complete. It is called “Drums for Dance”.
Yoel talks about when he realized he was going to be successful in music. The skills of his playing, and his band’s rating in the qualification system, allowed him to make the most amount of money possible.
Shout-out to Yoel’s family, especially his parents, his brother, and his wife.
Raul uses Tycoon Percussion, Innovative Percussion Sticks and Mallets, CymPad Accessories, and fingers crossed for Remo Drumheads.
You can follow Yoel on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Yoel and Damon talk a little about endorsements.
The song leading out of the interview is one of the 3/4 warmups from Yoel’s “Drums for Dance, Vol 1.” album.
